Seminars | Department of Earth Sciences

Check this page regularly for the Earth Sciences Seminar Series schedule as well as Special Seminars hosted by the Department.Microbial controls on biogeochemical carbon cycling in marine sediments

Rockfest Seminar Schedule

ES Seminars Schedule 2020 – 2021 are being presented online.

Check each individual seminar for details on how to join – times and days will vary, including the time zones!

23-Sep-21	12:00PM Eastern Time	Dr Sandra Taylor EMSL PNNL	Resolving crystal growth and incorporation mechanisms at the nanoscale using atom probe tomography” Abstract: Atom probe tomography (APT) is an analytical technique with the unique capability to map the chemical composition of materials in three-dimensions with sub-nanometer resolution. It has only recently gained traction within the geosciences within the last decade, but has proven to be valuable in connecting observations within geomaterials at the macroscopic scale to atomic-level phenomena. Here, I discuss the emerging applications for APT within in the geosciences, particularly showcasing its use to unravel crystal growth and incorporation mechanisms. In one example, direct observation of hydrated defects within natural specimens is enabled through the use of APT, in turn providing unique insight into modes of incorporation for water in nominally anhydrous minerals. In another example, mineral recrystallization pathways and mechanisms are explored through the development of novel isotope tracer experiments. Together, these studies provide new insight into crystal growth and incorporation mechanisms at the atomic-scale.	Join Zoom Meeting https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/81761652047 Meeting ID: 817 6165 2047 Passcode: 898050 One tap mobile +15873281099,,81761652047#,,,,898050# Canada +16132093054,,81761652047#,,,,898050# Canada
07-Oct-21	12:00PM Eastern Time	Catherine Macris Purdue University Mineral Society of America Distinguished Lecturer		Join Zoom Meeting https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/82159961908 Meeting ID: 821 5996 1908 Passcode: 130289 Join by Skype for Business https://utoronto.zoom.us/skype/82159961908
21-Oct-21
28-Oct-21	12:00PM Eastern Time	D.A Kellett	“Thermochronological record of the northern Canadian Shield” Geological Survey of Canada, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada In the 1960s, the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) published a series of reports that first delineated the structural provinces and orogenies of the Canadian Shield, based on an extensive K-Ar dataset (Stockwell 1964 and references therein). Today, we rely primarily on the U-Pb method for bedrock mapping studies in the Shield, and the K-Ar method has been largely superseded by the Ar/Ar method. Ar/Ar ages remain essential data for igneous and metamorphic thermochronological studies, but the available Ar/Ar dataset for the Canadian Shield has never approached the coverage of earlier K-Ar work. Recent bedrock mapping in several regions of the northern Canadian Shield under the GSC’s 2013-2020 Geomapping for Energy and Minerals program included the acquisition of several new Ar/Ar datasets. These data, combined with other recent Ar/Ar studies, have greatly expanded the cooling history record for the northern Canadian Shield. In this talk, I will review the available Ar/Ar cooling ages for hornblende, muscovite and biotite. These three minerals record the temperature-time evolution of rocks through the midcrust as they have transitioned from dynamic tectonism during orogenesis to tectonic quiescence. In exploring the data, I will discuss the history of K-Ar and Ar/Ar methods, their limitations and interpretations, and ways in which we might relate regional thermochronological datasets such as this to geodynamic processes. Stockwell, C.H., 1964. Fourth report on structural provinces, orogenies, and time-classification of rocks of the Canadian Precambrian Shield. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 64-17, p. 1-29.
04-Nov-21	12:00PM Eastern Time	J.Kotkova	Are metamorphic microdiamonds from Bohemia forever? Jana Kotková Czech Geological Survey, Prague, and Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Metamorphic diamonds occurring in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) terranes provide evidence for a deep subduction of continental crust in convergent orogens and its exhumation to the Earth’s surface. Microdiamonds are enclosed in peak metamorphic phases, i.e., garnet and kyanite, as well as zircon. Gem-quality octahedral diamond forms are common in Bohemia, Central Europe, while cubo-octahedra are characteristic of other UHPM terranes. The octahedral diamond features (morphology, resorption, carbon isotope composition), combined with P-T constraints from the metasedimentary host rocks, provide important insights into nucleation and growth mechanisms of microdiamonds worldwide. In addition, the Bohemian microdiamonds are well-preserved, without any surface graphitization, which has been reported elsewhere. Examination if and why they are “forever” is a target of our present study.
18-Nov-21

20-Jan-21
03-Feb-21
17-Feb-21
03-Mar-21
17-Mar-21

17 September 2020	Zoom meeting at noon Eastern Time	Laura Waters New Mexico Institute of Technology	Mineralogical Society of America’s distinguished lecturer	Why doesn’t continental crust evolve to its fullest potential? Register for this Seminar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqceCgqjosG9Ax8rCSKwwgXRUJ5lfJj0m9
01 October 2020	Noon	John Geissman University of Texas at Dallas		TBA
22 October 2020 *Special Seminar*	Noon	Judith Kinnard		The Bushveld Complex, South Aftrica – The First Hundred Years A tribute to Tony Naldrett
05 November 2020	Noon	Philips Ahzegbobor Aizebeokhai		Near-surface characterisation using geoelectrical resistivity method: field examples, challenges and opportunities
19 November 2020		Mads Huuse		Glaciation of the North Sea Basin
14 January 2021	Noon	Sarah Hirschorn	Nuclear Waste Management Organization	Characterizing Sites for a Deep Geological Repository for Canada’s Used Nuclear Fuel
28 January 2021	Noon	Stephanie Olsen	Purdue University	Oxygenic Photosynthesis on an Anoxic Earth: Implications for Exoplanet Life Detection
11 February 2021		Zachary E. Ross	California Institute of Technology	3D fault architecture controls the dynamism of earthquake swarms

Past Seminars:

ES Seminars Schedule 2019 – 2020

Time: Noon (unless otherwise stated)

Place: ES2093 “Seminar Room”

12 September 2019	Noon	Sarah Gleeson GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam	Dan Gregory	SEDEX	Diagenesis, Sulfur, and Giant Zn Deposits
03 October 2019	Noon	John Jamieson Memorial University	Melissa Anderson	VHMS	Ore-forming processes on the seafloor – understanding the difference between black smoker vent fields and the formation of metal-rich massive sulfide mineral deposits
16 October 2019 *Special Geophysics Seminar*	Noon	Marion Jegen-Kulcsar		Geophysics	Exploring Offshore Ground Water – A Case Study from Canterbury Bight, New Zealand
17 October 2019 Joubin James Lecturer	Noon	Andrei Swidinsky Colorado School of MInes	Qinya Liu	Geophysics	From the seafloor to the solar wind: Applied geophysics, electromagnetic fields and 21st century problems
23 October 2019 Special Geophysics Seminar	*4:00pm*	Heloise Lynn Lynn Inc.		SEG – Society of Exploration Geophysicists 2019 Honorary Lecturer	Azimuthal P-P seismic measurements: Past, present, and future
5 November 2019 Special Geophysics Seminar	Noon	Alastair McClymont Advisian, Calgary, Alberta	Charly Bank		The Forgotten Holocaust – Geophysical Investigations at World War 2 Extermination Sites in Lithuania
14 November 2019	Noon	Kim Lau	Dan Gregory	U istotope	Tracking Anoxia in Ancient Oceans: Insights from uranium isotopes
21 November 2019 Joubin James Lecture	Noon	Alberto Vitale Brovarone University of Turin	Xu Chu		Abiotic hydrocarbons on Earth: controversial theories, serpentinization, and new perspectives from subduction zones
28 November 2019	Noon	Alison Malcolm	Qinya Lui	Seismic	Using Lab and Numerical Experiments to Better Understand the Recovery of Rocks After Strong Earthquakes
SPRING TERM
09 January 2020	Noon	Verena Heuer	Barbara Sherwood Lollar	IODP deep biosphere	Exploring the limits of Earth’s habitability by scientific ocean drilling: The impact of temperature on microbial life and carbon flow in deep sub-seafloor sediments
23 January 2020	Noon	Erasmus Oware	Charly Bank	geophysics	Agricultural Geophysics: New Opportunities in applications of Geophysics
06 February 2020	Noon	Eileen van der Flier-Keller	Charly Bank	geoscience education	Empowering students to Communicate Science: the SFU experience
27 February 2020	Noon	Britta Jensen	Sarah Finkelstein	quaternary	Extending the reach of volcanic ash: cryptotephra in eastern North America
~~12 March 2020~~	~~Noon~~	~~John Geissman~~ CANCELLED	Sandra Kamo		Paleomagnetism and Magnetostratigraphy of Upper Permian to Lower Triassic (?) Beaufort Group Strata in the Karoo Basin, South Africa: Where is the Permian-Triassic Boundary and Can We “See Through” the Effects of Karoo Large Igneous Province Magmatism? (along with some other musings)
20 March 2020	Noon	~~Laura Waters~~ CANCELLED	Dan Gregory		Why doesn’t continental crust evolve to its fullest potential?

Other Seminars

Due to COVID-19 restrictions the seminar room at Earth Sciences is closed and the groups listed below ay have mhave changed their meetings to online.

2019 – 2020 Geophysics Seminar Series

KEGS Seminars are held in the Seminar Room – ES2093 during the regular term

TGDG GTA events

Walker Mineralogical Club meets in ES2093 monthly.